Don’t get caught off guard by market crashes that can take all your money down with them. And don’t miss out on markets where you can build wealth practically overnight. Real Estate News for Investors with Kathy Fettke is the premiere source for savvy real estate investors who want the edge. Stay up-to-date on new laws, regulations, and economic events that affect real estate. Topics include: market trends, economic analysis that affects housing prices, updates on the best rental markets for investing in single-family rentals or multi-unit rentals, turn-key housing standards, the fate of the highly revered 1031 exchange and other tax law affecting investors, self-directed IRA investing and 401k changes, where rents and property values are rising or falling, flipping risks, new Dodd-Frank rules regarding private lending and financing standards, areas with job losses vs job growth, areas that are overbuilt or over-supplied versus areas with low supply and high demand, and how to avoid real estate scams. We'll bring you the latest reports from organizations like the National Association of Realtors, Realty Trac, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Rent Range, Property Radar, the Norris Group, Peter Schiff, Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Suse Orman, Bigger Pockets, Dave Ramsey and more. And we'll help you interpret the data in terms that make sense for your real estate goals, and portfolio. Grow and protect your wealth by staying on the forefront of economic data analysis, expert opinions, innovative investing strategies and profitable investment opportunities. We'll share all the top real estate news stories and the best trade secrets investors should know, so you can stay ahead of the curve and make fully informed real estate decisions. Host Kathy Fettke is Co-CEO of the Real Wealth Network, author of Retire Rich with Rentals and host of the Real Wealth Show on iTunes. She brings decades of media and real estate investing experience, offers her own viewpoints on particular topics, and taps into her network of real estate experts for real world news updates created just for investors like you. Get the real news on real estate on The Real Estate News For Investors Show!

April is going to be a big month for the Democratic and Republican primaries. What can we expect from this election and how might the results affect the economy?

I’m Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors.

One of our listeners asked why I haven’t discussed the biggest news of the year - the Presidential Election… I told him I’ve avoided it at all costs because my comments are certain to upset at least 50% of my audience.

But today, I decided to stick my neck out there and do it anyway, since the next primaries are big ones, starting in Wisconsin on April 5, New York on April 19 and Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Rhode Island on April 26th.

Front-runners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will be battling it out, trying to get enough delegates on their side before the summer conventions. Clinton needs 2,383 delegates on the Democratic side to take the nomination and Trump needs 1237 to win. Otherwise, there will be more voting rounds to settle the score.

It’s been an interesting election to be sure. Democrats have been accusing Clinton of being too moderate and even Republican. Yet Republicans do not support her.

And on a televised town hall on CNN last week, Donald Trump was asked what he believed were the 3 most important priorities of the federal government. He replied, "...security, education and healthcare". This sounds an awful lot like something a Democrat would say. After all, Trump would have to look long and hard at the U.S. Constitution to find anything about health care or education as federal responsibilities.

Trump’s plans to make America Great Again sound pretty expensive and would require more government intervention- two more things that sound more left and less Republican.

Global warming is a hot topic these days. Some people are very worried about climate change, while others believe it’s just left-wing propaganda. Either way, what are the facts and how can real estate investors protect their properties from potential environmental risks?

The World Economic Forum just published it's annual "Global Risks Report" for 2016. And as you may expect from a risk report, it covers all kinds of alarming situations that could come from extreme weather events and natural catastrophes.

The report was compiled from the opinions of 742 experts in their various fields. And the risks were ranked in terms of likelihood and impact. They are also separated into categories for economic risks, environmental risks, geopolitical risks, societal risks and technological risks.

The first three entries on the list for "likelihood" are - number one, a large-scale migration of people followed by - number two, extreme weather events, and - number three, failure to address climate change issues. Natural catastrophe is also on that list along with a water crisis. Again, these risks trumped the risk of terrorist attacks and the spread of infectious disease. (And yes, that pun was intended!)

The #1 item on the list of events with the biggest impact was the failure to address climate change issues. A water crisis, fiscal crisis and asset bubbles were also on that list. But today, I want to focus on climate change and what real estate investors need to think about in terms of insuring themselves against the possibility of extreme weather events.

The National Real Estate Investor reports that the current El Nino storm system has been so intense, it caused $12.6 billion dollars in U.S. losses during the first half of 2015. The more intense El Nino system is being linked to higher temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. Those temperatures reportedly set a new record in November of last year as the warmest in recorded history.

Crowdfunding has grown into an important source of funding for all kinds of causes - from tech start-ups to charity fundraising campaigns. And because of a recent change in federal regulations, it's taken the real estate investing field by storm. But is it working?

I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors.

You've likely heard the word crowdfunding. It's a way to raise large amounts of money from various individuals making small contributions through a web-based platform.

This concept was made legal in April 2012, as part of the "Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act”, also known as the JOBS Act.

However, the legislation did not go into effect until the next year, specifically September 2013. That’s when Title II of the JOBS Act was defined and opened up the door for equity crowdfunding.

Up until this time, companies, including real estate investors, could only raise money by word-of-mouth when doing private placements. If you found a great deal and wanted to bring in partners, you could only talk to people with whom you've had a prior existing relationship. These are also known as syndications and fall under SEC exemption Reg D 506B.

The JOBS Act changed all this - by updating securities laws that now allow startups to advertise anywhere to anyone, and raise money through the internet to people they don’t know. This is what gave birth to what we now know as crowdfunding.

But is it working? Get the full transcript at www.NewsForInvestors.com

As the economy in China wobbles, Chinese investors have been buying up high-end properties in the U.S. - and that's helped fuel the red-hot real estate market for several years. But with new measures in China to stop the bleeding of money out of that country, there could be repercussions here in the U.S.

I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors.

The outflow of money from China is so steep, the central bank reported that it's foreign exchange reserves dropped by $108 billion dollars in December. It then fell another $100 billion dollars in January. And in February, there was a sharp drop in the outflow to $28 billion dollars. That’s 1/4th of what it was just two months ago.

China has a substantial $3.20 trillion dollars left in it's war chest, but the outflow has been huge. Economists say China can't sustain this kind of monetary bleeding and with the drop in February, it appears China is keeping more of its money... in China.

Where had the money been going, prior to this?

To find out which U.S. real estate markets have been artificially inflated by foreign investments, go to: www.newsforinvestors.com for the full transcript.

If you'd like a list of the best U.S. markets for acquiring cash flow properties today, in non-bubble markets, simply join the network. It's free! And when you do, we'll give you a list of the the most stable real estate markets along with highly experienced property providers in those markets who offer REAL turnkey rental properties with qualified tenants and experienced property management in place.

The stock market rallied again last week, but not for the reasons you might think. And it won’t last, so don’t get too comfortable.

I’m Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors.

The stock market was once a place where you could invest in companies showing a high potential for profits and earn a nice dividend check if you were right.

Today, most share prices are not so much based on earnings anymore, but rather seem more dependent on headline news.

And the headline news that fueled the markets this time was a positive reaction to the Fed announcement not to increase interest rates this month.

In December, the Fed raised rates by .25% and warned that they’d do it again four more times. Back in December, I predicted on my other podcast, the Real Wealth Show, that not only would they not raise interest rates four more times, but that they’d likely return to zero rates.

As I mentioned on episode #8 of this podcast, Real Estate News, there’s even a chance the Fed will move into negative interest rates territory, as Europe and Japan have already done.

Why would they do this?

Because the economy is not what they would like us to believe and negative interest rates are a last ditch effort in turning things around.

If you doubt this to be true, look at it this way. If the economy were as hot as Obama and his PR teams say it is, the Fed would have raised rates this month as they said they would. They didn’t.

And if the economy was booming, the stock market would be booming, too - based on fundamentals, like increased earnings. Instead, the stock market is booming for a much more sinister reason.

When it comes to buying homes, the Latino population is outpacing all the rest. According to the Hispanic Wealth Project out of San Diego, Hispanics were the only major racial or ethnic group to "increase" their homeownership rate in 2015. All the others were down.

Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is the Real Estate News for Investors.

This report shows that Latinos bought 245,000 homes last year. That's 69% of the total net growth of U.S. homeownership. It's the fifth year in a row for growth and it's the first time in 10 years that the Hispanic rates surged upward while rates for the rest of the country stalled.

Hispanics have gone from almost 4-and-a-half million owner households in the year 2000 to more than 7-million owner households last year. That's a 67% increase in homeownership in 15 years. And the growth trend is expected to continue. Researchers are predicting that Latinos will increase their hold on the homeownership market by 5.7 million in the next decade.

The increase in Hispanic homeownership goes hand in hand with an increase in the U.S. Hispanic population. According to Pew Research, that number is now up to 57 million or about 18% of the total U.S. population, and growing. Researchers expect another 30% surge in the Hispanic population by the year 2060.

How Will This Affect Real Estate Investors? Read more here: www.NewsForInvestors.com

There are far fewer Unicorn sightings in the Silicon Valley this year, In fact, its down as much as 80% from last summer. What is happening in the magical land of high tech? And how will it affect you as a a real estate investor?

A Unicorn is the term used for a high tech startup valued at a billion dollars, because at one time, it was a rare occurrence. However, according to VentureBeat, there were 229 so called Unicorns in January of this year. There were just 4 of such creatures in 2009.

The largest unicorns today are include Uber, Airbnb, Snapchat, Dropbox and Pinterest. But since Uber was valued at $60b in December after another round of funding, technically it's decacorn - which is a start up valued over $10 billion.

The rapid increase in the number of Unicorns last year prompted Bill Gurley, a partner at Benchmark to warn the public of a brewing bubble that will eventually burst, leaving many "dead unicorns" in it’s wake.

Hundreds of thousands of retirees in Minnesota are facing drastic pension cuts after a controversial law was passed in 2014. And, this pension fund could be the first domino to fall.

This last weekend, hundreds of workers rallied in Saint Paul to denounce deep cuts to their pensions. Trustees of the Central State Pension Fund want to cut benefits by as much as 55 percent because the fund is running out of money.

Fund managers requested the cuts from the U.S. Department of the Treasury last September under the Multi-Employer Pension Reform Act of 2014. In October, they sent letters to fund participants advising them to take pension reductions into consideration when making retirement decisions. This applies to both active employees and retirees.

The benefit reductions are scheduled to go into effect on July 1st, if the pension rescue plan is approved by the Treasury and by a vote of plan participants. Fund managers say "without" the cuts, the fund will completely dry up in about 10 years. Participants are faced with a decision to approve the cuts or have their payments stop entirely, ten years down the road.

The Central States Pension Fund provides benefits for more than 400,000 people and their beneficiaries. More than 220,000 of them are already retired.

One solution is the 10-pack rental property plan. If you buy 10 homes worth $100K, you'd need a total down payment of $200K-250K.

Your target should be $300 cash flow after all expenses are paid on each property. With 10 homes, that's $3,000/month or $36,000/year net cash flow.

Since the loans on your $100,000 properties will be about $75,000, you can pay off one of those loans in a little over 2 years. Then you'll have even more cash flow to pay off the 2nd home, then the 3rd and so forth. You can have all 10 homes paid off in 12 years or less with this plan - if you buy right - in strong markets with job and population growth.

You'd have $1 million in equity and approximately $72,000 net income for life (but likely more since both home prices and rents will likely have increased in that 12 year period.) We'd love to discuss this plan with you and share our data on the best U.S. markets for investing in rental property today.

Home values are rising, bringing underwater mortgages to the surface. That's the word from Zillow on the state of affairs for many U.S. property owners.

Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors.

Zillow’s new report shows the percentage of homeowners who are still underwater dropped to 13.1% at the end of last year. That's down from 16.9% a year before that. It's also a huge improvement from the peak of the housing crisis in 2012, when the underwater rate rose to a whopping 31.4%.

That last number represents almost 16 million people compared to almost 6 million in the last quarter of 2015. You might think the underwater rate is still quite high, at 6 million people, and you are right. We are "not" back to normal by any means. And some parts of the country are struggling more than others.

In fact, Zillow says that some areas will have a problem with negative equity for years to come. The negative equity rate was highest in Las Vegas and Chicago. More than 20% of homeowners were underwater in those cities at the end of 2015. In San Jose, California, the negative equity rate was the lowest at just 2.8%. San Francisco was 4.4%. Denver was 5.5%.

So even though U.S. home values have risen steadily for almost 4 years, there are plenty of places where home values are still at a low point. Of the 35 major metro areas that Zillow included in the study, about half had negative equity rates that were above the national average, and about half were below. Zillow data shows that most of the negative equity is found in the Southwest and the Midwest.

Find out how this data can help you find the best markets for finding deals today at www.newsforinvestors.com

The Airbnb story is often one of people meeting new people from other places and hosts earning extra money. But what happens if that friendly, seemingly trustworthy boarder decides to stay... and refuses to pay?

Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Wealth News for Investors.

It's not a common phenomenon but it is happening and it's a risk that all short-term rental hosts should beware of - the Airbnb Squatter. Of course there are other short-term rental services and they run the same risk. But this is a story about Airbnb and a recent incident in San Francisco.

It started in 2012, when several people bought into a tenants-in-common arrangement on Telegraph Hill. A man by the name of Sandeep bought a studio on the top floor while Michelle and her boyfriend Thomas, bought three other units in the same building as investments to rent out on Airbnb.

There were a few other buyers who didn't figure prominently into what came next - the neighborly "feud". Sandeep allegedly squabbled with Michelle and Thomas over things like maintenance costs, building repairs... and their Airbnb business. He was apparently displeased with any extra traffic or noise in the building, or it was just a bad relationship in general.

Michelle and Thomas didn't live in the building but the feud continued for several years. Then, one day last year, Sandeep decided to play a trick on his rivals.

The federal government is offering a new incentive for landlords to "go green". The Federal Housing Administration introduced a lower mortgage insurance rate for investors who buy multi-family rental properties using an FHA loan.

I’m Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors.

This new policy will give owners of apartment buildings a discount on mortgage insurance fees paid to the FHA. The idea behind the policy is that if landlords pay less for mortgage insurance, they can put the money they save into energy efficient upgrades and renovations.

The end result is that landlords are spending the same amount of money, but are contributing to "two" good causes. They are making their apartments more affordable and more energy efficient.

Tenants would benefit by paying less for utilities and the environment would benefit by reduced carbon footprints.

Landlords would also benefit by attracting stable tenants. The idea is that if utility bills are reduced, tenants would be able to pay their rent more easily and then be less likely to default on their rent.

And, there are plenty of tenants struggling to meet their financial obligations. HUD Secretary Julián Castro says half of all renters are paying more than they can afford on rent. And, that a quarter of them are devoting more than half their income on housing. Reducing utility expenses will reduce their overall expenses.

HUD is estimating that the upgrades will create an additional 12-thousand units of affordable housing per year and will save billions of dollars in energy costs. The federal housing agency says U.S. rental households spent a total of $40 billion dollars a year on energy in 2014. HUD is estimating that the energy upgrades could make these apartments 20 percent more energy efficient with a savings of $8 billion dollars a year.

Those same upgrades could also cut greenhouse gases by more than 430 million tons. And who doesn't want to help cut greenhouse gases, especially if it's cost efficient?

The rate reduction will range from 20 to 45 basis points depending on the type of property. For mixed-income properties with some units set aside as "affordable", rates are being lowered to 35 basis points. For broadly affordable housing which offers at least 90% Section 8 housing, annual rates will be 25 basis points. And for energy-efficient properties, rates are also dropping to 25 basis points.

The rate reductions will affect loans by the three big housing finance agencies, the FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. They take effect on April first of this year.

Now, I bet you didn’t know FHA apartment loans are available for the acquisition or refinancing of multifamily properties over 5 units. I had to look it up myself after reading this press release because it was new to me. It turns out there are no income or rent restrictions and HUD FHA 223(f) insured mortgages are non-recourse with no market - economic or population - restrictions.

Loan sizes above $1 million - no maximum with an 83.3% LTV for market rate apartments and 90% LTV for project based rental assistance, up to 35 year fixed rate terms.

You can also get commercial loans this way. Most investors, including me, have assumed FHA loans are only for home owners, so there’s your tip for the day.

Another tip for the day… If you are new to real estate investing, consider getting an FHA loan on a 2-4 unit building. You can live in one unit and rent out the rest. And the FHA only requires 3% down payment! A friend of mine bought a $1 million waterfront 4-plex in San Diego, CA and because the FHA loan limits for 4-plexes in that area is $1,116,850, he was able to put just 3.5% down. That’s just $35,000 down and it cash flows since rates are so low.

So be sure to look up FHA loan limits in your area - including limits for 2-4 unit buildings.

Airbnb is becoming a hot commodity for some professional investors. What started as a low-key business model could be turning into a large-scale enterprise for some operators. But savvy investors need to evaluate the upsides and the downsides of the short-term rental.

Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors.

Airbnb got its start in 2008 as a way for private property owners and renters to make a little extra money. They could rent a spare bedroom or a backyard cottage for a short amount of time and make a profit. But in just eight years, Airbnb has become a $25 billion dollar success. And some of that success is being driven by a new kind of Airbnb operator.

These new operators are investors and don't live in the buildings they rent. And while many own just a few rentals, there are some who are experimenting on a much larger scale.

According to the Realty Shares blog, it's difficult to find out exactly how many professional investors are listing their units on Airbnb. The issue has become controversial as demand for long-term housing grows scarce in some places. So Airbnb may not be willing to throw that information out there.

But Realty Shares did get a look at some data that became public through a court order in New York. The data was subpoenaed and released by the New York Attorney General in 2014.

It showed that 94% of Airbnb hosts in the city rented just 1 or 2 units. That's the business model that Airbnb was founded on -- that regular folks would rent out rooms in their home or their entire homes while they are away on vacation.

And then there's the "other" 6%. Those hosts were listing as few as 3 units to as many as 272 units on the website. And here's the big nugget of information -- the revenue generated from these units amounted to more than a third of ALL bookings and revenue earned by Airbnb rentals in New York City. The total for that year was about $168 million dollars.

But even those figures can't be trusted because Airbnb allegedly "pulled" a lot of commercial listings from the site before the data was released. And it's difficult to track a particular listing since you don't get an exact address until you have rented the unit. Plus, listings may be posted and pulled according to the whim of the host.

Realty Shares also found out from other sources that most of the so-called professionals are smaller personal investors. But, those sources say some of the bigger players have also been showing interest.

Another source of information came from Pillow, which offers management services for short-term rentals. Clients are mostly individuals and families who own Airbnb rentals, but Pillow executives told Realty Shares that major investors have also inquired about their services.

They say investors with as many as 500 units have asked Pillow to quote, "take all of them". Pillow is a small start-up and apparently refused that offer.

So there is evidence that bigger investors are sniffing around, but are not ready "yet" to bite. That's probably because there isn't enough hard data to justify a large-scale investment and plenty of potential pitfalls.

Realty Shares, itself, is a commercial real estate investment company, but it says it has not invested in Airbnb properties. It says the business model is TOO NEW and that Airbnb is still in the process of proving itself. But, Realty Shares says it could be something it considers in the future.

There are several other wildcards that could affect the success of the Airbnb business model. Hosts need to successfully promote their listings and satisfy their clients. That requires individual treatment for each listing in order to portray a rental unit's unique and attractive features. And guests have to be happy with their experiences because you know how lethal a bad review can be on the internet.

Homeowners get a nice tax deduction. Why not renters? A Florida Congressman would like to even out the playing field and give renters the same benefits as homeowners.

Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors.

A Florida Senator is trying to tackle the housing affordability crisis with legislation that would give renters a big, fat tax deduction. The bill would help renters struggling with skyrocketing rents. And could save them thousands of dollars each year, if the bill passes.

One of the incentives for buying a home in the U.S. is the tax deduction you get for interest payments and property taxes. It's a tax break that renters don't enjoy. And with rents going through the roof in some places, Representative Alan Grayson told Realtor.com that he hopes his bill will level the playing field.

According to a Harvard University study, there were 43 million rental households last year. That's 9 million more households paying rent than in 2005, or an increase from 31% to 37% over a ten-year period. Harvard researchers say it's the largest gain in rental households during any 10-year period -- ever.

The Harvard study attributes the increase to several factors including the loss of about 8 million homes to foreclosure during the housing crisis. Also factoring into the equation is a tightening of mortgage credit and the shrinking of household incomes. The study also says that renting has become popular among millennials who are shifting their careers and putting off family plans.

In response to that record growth in demand, the study says that 8.2 million new rental units were created during that time. Apartment buildings and complexes made up about one-fifth of those new units, while the other rental units came from the conversion of single-family homes.

Even with all the additional new units, the demand is outstripping supply. The Harvard study shows the vacancy rate was less than 5% in almost three-quarters of the 50 largest markets toward the end of last year.

At the same time, rents rose an average 7% in the U.S. between 2001 and 2014, and household incomes fell by 9% during that same time. Plus, the number of households paying more than half their income on rent grew from 7.5 million to 11.4 million. That's also a new record.

Grayson told Realtor.com that this piece of legislation is designed to help renters who are struggling. In his example, he said the tax savings for a household paying $1,500 in rent or $18,000 a year for a primary residence, would be $4,500. That would be a nice chunk of change for renters at tax time. And, that savings would be much higher for people in hot markets like the Bay Area, where monthly rents can be much higher than that.

But there is a catch. The S.F. Gate points out that the current wording of the legislation states that the rented unit cannot have an appraised value of more than $1 million dollars. So, that may not help many high-end renters in markets like San Francisco where a newer 2-bedroom condo could easily be worth more than $1 million.

The paper also reports that the bill is idling in the House Committee on Ways and Means without any co-sponsors. So it may not build up enough steam to get it through the starting gate.

If it did pass, it would certainly give renters a new incentive to maintain their status quo as "renters". One analyst at the National Housing Conference also told Realtor.com that it might help renters save a little money to become homeowners.

Hmmm -- We’ll stay on top of this story. But my guess is… this bill doesn’t stand a chance.

Tax breaks for renting? Really?

The tax breaks on homeownership help offset all the repairs, property taxes and other expenses of owning a home. And it encourages people to own their home, which generally stabilizes neighborhoods.

In my opinion, if renters want to enjoy the same tax benefits as hom...

When you choose a home to own or to rent, you are typically choosing a community along with amenities, like access to stores and shopping. But headlines are full of news about big stores closing. You might think it's just an inconvenience, but those closures could also hurt home values.

Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors.

Today, I'm going to talk about stores on the chopping block, along with something called "The Starbucks Effect".

We're hearing about some big cutbacks in the retail business. Macy's, Walmart, Sears, and Kohl's are among those announcing store closures. Those kinds of stores are typically anchor stores at malls, where consumers can get a good deal or a wide variety of choices. Mom and Pop stores are great, but when it comes to efficient shopping, who doesn't want the option of going to a big box discount or department store?

Not as many people today as in the past, apparently! The real big box store is the internet, where buyers can search for anything they want in a matter of moments. And compare prices and reviews instantly. And if you like what you see, you’ll get it delivered in less than 24 hours in some cases. I still don’t know how Amazon does it and I have no idea if their new drone delivery will ever work.

But the economy is changing and so are buyer’s spending habits.

It used to be that real estate investors would follow the big box stores. We knew that these huge corporations did extensive studies on population growth and demographics. So, if a Walmart was slated to be built in a certain area, we’d run in and buy investment properties nearby - knowing there would be tremendous demand for housing - not just from the employees but also from the studies that prompted corporations to build that new store.

But all that’s changing now.

In mid-January, Walmart announced 269 global closures. That number includes 154 locations in the U.S. So stores will shut down and employees will lose jobs - employees who may be homeowners or tenants in nearby neighborhoods. In this case, some 16,000 Walmart employees are being affected.

3.5% of all single-family homes that broke ground during the last quarter of 2015 were built as rentals, according to The National Association of Home Builders. About 25,000 single-family homes were built as rentals in 2014, and last year, that number grew to 26,000.

The demand for all kinds of rentals has grown enormously since the great recession as people lost homes and became renters. NAHB Vice President Robert Dietz told DS News that the market for newly constructed rental homes will continue to grow.

He said census data shows that the number of homes built for rent has been increasing every year. And this is one indicator that the single-family rental market is a growing real estate niche.

There's quite a mix of people who are fueling the demand for detached rental homes. People who lost their homes to foreclosure may be forced to rent now, but want to maintain a lifestyle that "feels" like homeownership.

Baby boomers who are getting to a point in their lives where they'd prefer to call a landlord about a broken toilet or a window that doesn't close properly are opting to rent.

The younger and increasingly mobile workforce made up of a lot of millennials seem to be putting off the homeownership "anchor". For now, these young people have been renting apartments downtown for a more hipster lifestyle, but rents in most city centers are getting expensive. This is forcing some young adults to move out to the suburbs, and thus into single family homes. They could probably afford to buy, but they rent in order to keep their lives flexible until they have a better idea where they might settle down.

According to John Burns Real Estate Consulting, the total share of single-family rentals including new and existing rental homes, accounts for almost 30 percent of total rental units nationwide. The firm reports that 44.3 million households in the United States are renting, and that 12.7 million of them, were renting "single-family homes" in August of last year.

Another big change is the transition from what Burns calls a "mom and pop" rental business, which he refers to as people who own just one rental property. He says almost 13 million people are renting out single-family homes, and that interest has grown. And, that translates into stronger demand for the building of more single family home rentals.

As co-CEO of Real Wealth Network, we have been helping mom and pops acquire their first rental property since 2003. We started by networking with builders in Texas and reserving 10% of their inventory for our California based investors to buy and rent out. Most builders didn’t want to allow any more than 10% of their subdivision to be renter occupied for fear it would bring down the quality of the neighborhood. Historically, owners have tended to take better care of their yards and properties than renters due to pride of ownership.

I’ve seen more and more investors, mostly hedge funds, build subdivisions that are 100% rental. I just interviewed a hedge fund manager about this on my other podcast, the Real Wealth Show. That episode is called, “Why this Wall Street Trader Now Invests in Dallas Real Estate.” Check it out.

In the interview, I asked him how he’ll keep up the quality of the neighborhood if it’s 100% rental. He said that his firm will be managing the properties and will ensure that the yards and homes are well maintained.

I can see how this could work if management were strict and treated more like a sprawling apartment complex of single family homes. The real trouble happens when lots of different landlords own the homes.

In 2006, I took a trip to El Paso, Texas to look at property and I stumbled upon a subdivis...

We have a real estate tech roundup for you today with the latest about the use of drones for epic real estate photography, the merger of two big rental listing sites, and how something called "blockchain" could help simplify and safeguard real estate transactions.

When it comes to selling real estate, why not give it a big screen appeal with the help of a camera mounted on a drone flying high above your property? It's something that's about to sweep the real estate market off its feet.

Drone operators have been patiently or impatiently waiting for regulations that would allow them to operate legally. The FAA has been working on regulations and, just last week, it finally announced that it has established a rule-making committee to recommend a new regulatory framework by April 1st. The agency is expected to release final regulations by late June.

That's big news for many industries that would like to use drones, including real estate brokers and agents. Although some people have been skirting the current rules and dazzling buyers with high-flying photographs, the finalization of regulations will open the floodgates to a massive new tool for real estate marketing.

Right now, the FAA allows the limited use of drones for commercial purposes, but the registration process is complicated so there are few people legally allowed to do so. And those who violate the rules could face penalties and fines. But that hasn't stopped some so-called "hobbyists" from going commercial, including some renegade real estate professionals.

And even though the FAA has made it clear that taking pictures or video of real estate listings from a drone is "not" a hobby, you've probably seen some of those cool images. Companies that provide drone photography services have also been playing cat and mouse with the rules. They may be trying to get around the rules by saying they are charging for the photos and not for the drone flights.

It's been sort of a "don't ask, don't tell" arrangement. But that could backfire if the FAA decides to really crack down on the scofflaws.

Once the drone industry takes off, the potential benefits for sky-high photography could be enormous. In the real estate field, it could be used to capture the elegance of a sprawling mansion, a large tract of undeveloped land, or a complex of buildings and structures that you just can't capture with a ground-level shot.

It is possible to take aerial photographs or video from a helicopter, but helicopters must fly at a much higher altitude making it difficult to get that magnificent but more detailed view of the earth below. And, chopper shots cost a lot more than those from a drone. But even with that discount, drones may not be cost-effective for many lower-priced properties. It will be worth checking on however.

Hi! Welcome to the one month anniversary of Real Estate News for Investors. I’m Kathy Fettke.

This show made it to #1 in Investing on New & Noteworthy and remains among the top 20 podcasts in the Real Estate category overall. So thank you. I really appreciate your support and could not do it without you.

I’ve received wonderful 5-star reviews and I am so grateful. While all the 5-star reviews made me smile, some actually made me laugh out loud.

Like this one from Edwin in Oakland, CA. He said, "Kathy’s podcast > CNBC." Thanks Edwin.

And Ricoch said, “Kathy tells the story behind the headlines. I look forward to hearing more about the research she provides."

Lisa said, “I found Kathy Fettke after reading her book, Retire Rich with Rentals and have been listening to her other podcast, The Real Wealth Show, ever since. I like that this podcast is succinct and to the point. I always leave her podcasts with an idea to implement or concepts to research further. I currently have 2 rental properties and have seen how real estate is the road to wealth. I have no doubt that listening to her podcasts will help me be successful in my real estate investing career.” Thank you so much, Lisa.

This feedback is the reason I have this show. It absolutely fulfills my purpose. When I started investing, all that existed for me at the time were a few outdated books and some really awful real estate investment clubs that just sold expensive bootcamps from unscrupulous sales people.

With the Real Wealth Show, I wanted to only interview real investors. And with Real Estate News, I want to cut through the bull we’re fed everyday through the media and give it uncensored truth - or at least my very biased opinion! Whether you agree or disagree, the content will hopefully spur great discussions and further research.

This show takes a tremendous amount of time and energy but I love it. It always has been my passion to look deeper into news stories. When I worked in the newsrooms of CNN, KTVU, ABC7 and KRON in San Francisco - we were taught not to be controversial or have any opinion at all, for that matter.

One time I had to cover a union strike, and somehow, in my copy and delivery, union members could tell I was not in support of it. Obviously, workers should be paid their fair share and unions were created to protect workers from greedy, heartless employers. But somehow over time, some of the unions became greedy themselves, making it impossible for certain companies to meet the fierce union demands.

This happened to my brother who went out of business after he opened up shop in San Francisco. He simply couldn’t meet the demands of the union and had to take his company to a more business friendly city.

To give you an idea how strongly people feel about certain topics, I ended up getting death threats after that union story aired. Haters were waiting for me in the parking lot so I had to be escorted out with security guards.

Upsetting people is not new to me. It comes with the territory when anyone shares their strong opinion. There will be those who agree and those who disagree.

I realize many of the things I’m sharing are quite shocking and seem overly pessimistic. I gave a talk in October at a San Jose real estate investors group. I warned about venture capital funding pulling out of the Silicon Valley after so many high tech IPO’s were unsuccessful last year. I mentioned that the last time this happened, real estate values there dropped by 30%. I had some people come up to me, huffing and puffing afterwards - they looked like they wanted to punch me! No one wants to hear bad news when everything looks good - especially when they are highly vested in the topic at hand.

But… wouldn’t you rather have had someone warn you in 2006 that 2008 was around the corner? If someone told you that Lehman Brothers or Merril Lynch were going to collapse in a ye...